The interior of the 69th Regiment Armory in New York was bustling with feverish activity backstage at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show — a sharp contrast to the windy, cold and snowy backdrop outside Wednesday afternoon.

Angels were scurrying about in pink satin Victoria’s Secret robes as hairstylists and makeup artists worked their magic for the 4 p.m. show today. Several hundred reporters and TV crews worked the back room, where models such as Miranda Kerr made it clear they were not dieting before the show. The hearty lunch menu consisted of tomato bisque soup, pasta, salad, roast beef with creamy horseradish sauce, stuffed chicken, ice cream, cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Ed Razek, chief creative officer of Victoria’s Secret, said staging the show after Hurricane Sandy was a monumental effort. As reported, Victoria’s Secret loaned the National Guard its fleet of generators and forklifts to help out during the emergency.

“The National Guard credited us for saving lives, for being able to get to people faster, and for being able to communicate faster and clearer through our Internet and communications capabilities,” said Razek. “We did everything to make sure the Guard was covered, and to say that we didn’t, like some news organizations, is not true.We even asked the Guard, ‘If you don’t want us here, we’ll go,’ but they said, ‘No, stay.’”

He added that Victoria’s Secret has donated $1 million to help hurricane victims, and that CBS, which will air the show Dec. 4, has also donated $1 million.

Razek then said he wanted to lighten things up, noting that the three entertainers for today’s two fashion shows — Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars — have a combined following of 140 million on Twitter and Facebook.

“That doesn’t even include their fans….They are among the top five entertainers in the world, and it’s actually easier to get them to the Victoria’s Secret show than to most other shows,” said Razek.RELATED STORY: Front Row at Victoria’s Secret >>

The reason: “Our show was the number-one TV show for adults in the U.S. last year for people 18 to 49 years old, and the number-one TV show for adult women ages 18 to 34. That’s the target audience for a lot of advertisers,” said Razek.

Meanwhile, lead hairstylist Orlando Pita, said the look of the Angels’ hair for this year’s extravaganza is “a little more undone.”

“It’s beachy looking but doesn’t have the dryness of the beach,” explained Pita as he was coiffing Adriana Lima.

“The girls have a glowy, healthy look this year,” said Tom Pecheux, lead makeup artist. “It’s all about how every woman would like to look and then we upgrade it for the Angels with black mascara on the upper lashes and brown on the lower lashes, berry and pink sheer lips.”

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